Entrepreneurs often have a tough time delegating effectively. After all, the company is their baby. They gave it life and steered it through its formative years. They know how to press all the important buttons and pull all the essential levers better than anyone else. But if they continue to refuse access to those buttons

It’s true. Some people are born leaders. They are born with the right aptitudes and behaviors that pave the way for leadership. They may have to work at it, but at least they have the right tools to develop their leadership style and abilities. Others (probably most of us) have to work harder to develop

“People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.” ~ Thomas Sowell “Has anyone ever said, ‘I wish I could go to more meetings today?’” ~ Matt Mullenweg “Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.” ~ John Kenneth Galbraith I was going to say that meetings get a bad rap,

Setting priorities. That’s something many entrepreneurs struggle with. In fact, entrepreneurs are sometimes likened to crows who get distracted by every new shiny thing that comes along. Unfortunately, this creates confusion as employees try to keep up with ever-shifting priorities. In other cases, instead of setting priorities vertically with the most important at the top

We have used this space to talk about leadership many times in the past, and no doubt, will continue to talk about it in the future. It is, after all, a critically important topic. If you go to the business section of a bookstore or a library, you’ll find the shelves are packed with books

Greg McKeown is a leadership and business consultant, public speaker, and author. His most recent book is, “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.” In that book, he puts forward his very unusual belief that success in business can be its own worst enemy. In his view, success doesn’t necessarily beget more success. In fact, an initial success

During the Great Recession, hiring was not much of a problem because most companies weren’t doing any of it. Some imposed a hiring freeze, others laid people off. Now we have the opposite problem: companies want to hire but can’t find the people they want. Best-selling business author Jim Collins uses the analogy of a

“Which is easier, strategy (planning) or execution?” Ask any chief executive that question, and he or she will always answer, “Execution!” Putting together a good strategic plan has its own challenges, but the real trick is making that plan happen. And the reason for that is simple: executing a strategic plan is important but not

While researching their best-selling book, “First, Break All the Rules,” co-authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman interviewed over 80,000 managers in more than 400 companies. They wanted to learn what separates managers who are truly great from those who are just adequate. Surprisingly, among the great managers, Buckingham and Coffman found more differences than similarities.

Brendan Reid, a business writer, author, and coach, points out that strong interviewing skills are critical to the success of any hiring manager. Obviously, bringing people on board who have the right skills, knowledge, experience, and temperament will have enormous benefit to the hiring manager and to the company. Yet few companies, except the very